MCD booked 4,766 unauthorised buildings in 2025; 22 demolished fully

New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi booked 4,766 unauthorised constructions across the city in 2025 and passed 3,989 demolition orders, according to official data.

The data, shared by the civic body, showed that demolition or sealing action was taken against 3,294 booked properties under sections of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act.

Of these, 22 structures were fully demolished, 2,249 were partly demolished, and 1,023 properties were sealed, the data showed.

The figures relate to properties that were formally “booked” by the civic body for unauthorised construction or violations of sanctioned building plans and bylaws.

Under Section 343 of the DMC Act, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) can take action against

unauthorised constructions on private land, an official said.

“The process begins with booking the property and issuing notices to the owners. They are then asked either to remove the unauthorised portions or get them regularised. Based on their response, the civic body may initiate further action,” a senior official said.

Apart from action against booked properties, the civic body said it also acted against unauthorised constructions detected in the construction stage before formal booking.

The data showed that demolition or sealing action was taken in 722 such cases, including six fully demolished structures, 660 partly demolished properties, and 56 sealed premises.

The civic body also initiated 276 prosecutions under the DMC Act during the period under review.

As part of the enforcement measures, the MCD wrote 6,300 letters to police authorities seeking stoppage of construction work and sent 4,749 communications to agencies such as the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), power utility BSES, and registration authorities seeking disconnection of services and requesting that properties not be registered.

Unauthorised constructions are under the lens in Delhi after six people were killed and eight injured when a multi-storey commercial building housing a coaching centre, cafes and offices collapsed near the Saket Metro station on the evening of May 30.

According to officials, the collapsed property covered around 300 square metres and comprised a basement, ground floor, first floor, and second floor constructed around 12 to 13 years ago, while the third and fourth floors had been added in recent years.

According to civic officials, the building was located in an unauthorised colony that is not among the 1,511 colonies identified for regularisation.

Three days after the collapse, the MCD on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to eight buildings in the vicinity found to be violating building bylaws, and said that inspections would be expanded to the nearby localities.

“We issued notices to all the unauthorised buildings having more than ground plus three floors (G+3). The drive will start in Mehrauli, Saket and their adjoining areas,” a senior MCD official said.

“Illegal constructions are rampant in Saidulajab, Paryavaran Complex and the Freedom Fighters’ Enclave in Saket alone. Similarly, illegal structures will be identified in Mehrauli and nearby areas,” the official added.

Notices issued during the ongoing exercise would be converted into vacation-cum-sealing notices after the mandatory 72-hour period, following which the occupants would be asked to vacate the premises, officials said. PTI MSJ ARI